Happy Friday everyone! Here are some hints and tips that every business owner can use when chasing debts and collecting money:
1. Dialing 1831 before the customers number will hide your number, useful for those sneaky debtors who are screening your calls. Dialing 1832 before the customers number will show your number, useful for those sneaky debtors who don’t answer private numbers.
2. Always, always, always ask for a payment of some description that same day. Even if they cannot pay the whole amount, tell them you really need something, just as a show of goodwill.
3. Your contact at your commercial client not responding to requests for payment and you don’t have an email address for them? If you know the website of the company, you can find their email address. Simply send a blank one to the following variations, of which one will ALWAYS be correct and you will know which one is correct as all the others will bounce back. I will use my name and our website as an example: paul@collectmore.com.au; paul.metcalf@collectmore.com.au; pmetcalf@collectmore.com.au; paulm@collectmore.com.au; p.metcalf@collectmore.com.au
4. If a customer makes a promise to pay, ALWAYS send them an SMS confirming the agreement afterwards. This encourages accountability on their part and shows that you are very thorough and diligent. Always include your bank details in the SMS also.
5. Collection fees and commissions your debt collector charges you cannot be added to the customers debt unless you have a signed credit application from them agreeing to pay these charges. This is a question we are asked daily.
Cheers guys, hope these help. For many, many more hints and tips, check out of newsletter “Be PAID” which can be found on our website.